Sepik languages

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Sepik
Sepik River
Geographic
distribution		 Sepik River region, northern Papua New Guinea (mostly in East Sepik Province)
Linguistic classification One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottolog sepi1257
Sepik languages in PNG.svg
Distribution of Sepik languages in Papua New Guinea

The Sepik or Sepik River languages are a family of some 50 Papuan languages spoken in the Sepik river basin of northern Papua New Guinea, proposed by Donald Laycock in 1965 in a somewhat more limited form than presented here. They tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

Contents

The best known[ by whom? ] Sepik language is Iatmul. The most populous are Iatmul's fellow Ndu languages Abelam and Boiken, with about 35,000 speakers each.

The Sepik languages, like their Ramu neighbors, appear to have three-vowel systems, /ɨəa/, that distinguish only vowel height in a vertical vowel system. Phonetic [ieou] are a result of palatal and labial assimilation to adjacent consonants. It is suspected that the Ndu languages may reduce this to a two-vowel system, with /ɨ/ epenthetic (Foley 1986).

Classification

The Sepik languages consist of two branches of Kandru's Laycock's Sepik–Ramu proposal, the Sepik subphylum and Leonhard Schultze stock. According to Malcolm Ross, the most promising external relationship is not with Ramu, pace Laycock, but with the Torricelli family.

Palmer (2018) classifies the Leonhard Schultze languages as an independent language phylum. [1]

Usher (2020)

In the cladogram below, [2] the small, closely related families in bold at the ends of the branches are covered in separate articles.

 Sepik 
 Leonhard Schultze 

Walio family

Papi family (Papi, Suarmin/Asaba)

 Upper Sepik 

Abau

Iwam family

Yellow–Wanibe Rivers

Ram family

Yellow River family

Amal–Kalou

 Middle Sepik 

Tama family

Nukuma family

Yerakai

Ndu family

 Sepik Hills 

Sanio

Hewa–Paka: Niksek (Paka, Gabiano), Piame, Hewa

Bahinemo family

Alamblak family

The Sepik languages as classified by William A. Foley Sepik as classified by William A. Foley.svg
The Sepik languages as classified by William A. Foley

Foley (2018)

Foley (2018) provides the following classification, with 6 main branches recognized. [3]

Like the neighboring Torricelli languages, but unlike the rest of the Sepik languages, the Ram and Yellow River languages do not have clause chaining constructions (for an example of a clause chaining construction in a Trans-New Guinea language, see Kamano language#Clause chaining ). Foley (2018) suggests that many of the Ram and Yellow River-speaking peoples may have in fact been Torricelli speakers who were later assimilated by Sepik-speaking peoples. [3] : 298 

Foley classifies the Leonhard Schultze languages separately as an independent language family. [3]

Pronouns

The pronouns Ross reconstructs for proto-Sepik are: [4]

I*wanwe two*na-nd, *na-pwe*na-m
thou (M)*mɨ-nyou two*kwə-pyou*kwə-m
thou (F)*yɨ-n, *nyɨ-n
he*ətə-d, *dəthey two*ətə-p, *tɨ-pthey*ətə-m, *tɨ-m
she*ətə-t, *tɨ

Note the similarities of the dual and plural suffixes with those of the Torricelli languages.

Ross reconstructs two sets of pronouns for "proto–Upper Sepik" (actually, Abau–Iwam and Wogamusin (Tama)). These are the default set (Set I), and a set with "certain interpersonal and pragmatic functions" (table 1.27):

Pronoun Set I
I*anwe two*nə-dwe*nə-n
thou (M)*nɨyou two*nə-pyou*nə-m
thou (F)(*nɨ-n)
he*tə-they two(*rə-p)they*ra-m
she*tɨ-
Pronoun Set II
I*kawe two*krə-dwe*krə-m
thou (M)*kɨyou two*kə-pyou*kə-m
thou (F) ?
he*sithey two*sə-pthey(*sə-m)
she(*sae)

Most Sepik languages have reflexes of proto-Sepik *na ~ *an for 1sg, *no for 1pl, and *ni for 2sg. [3]

Cognates

Proto-Sepik forms reconstructed by Foley (2018) that are widespread across the family: [3]

glossproto-Sepik
‘breast’*muk
‘tongue’*ta(w)r
‘tree’*mi
‘dog’*wara
‘louse’*nim
‘feces’*ri
‘go’*(y)i
‘come’*ya
‘1sg’*na ~ *an
‘2sg’*ni
‘1pl’*no
‘dative suffix’*-ni
‘locative suffix’*-kV

Typological overview

Even internally within Sepik subgroups, languages in the Sepik family can have vastly different typological profiles varying from isolating to agglutinative, with example languages listed below. [3]

group isolating agglutinative
Ndu Ambulas Manambu
Sepik Hill Sanio-Hiowe Alamblak
Tama Yessan-Mayo Mehek

In contrast, languages within the Ramu, Lower Sepik, and Yuat families all have relatively uniform typological profiles. [3]

Gender

Like the isolate Taiap, but unlike the Lower Sepik-Ramu, Yuat, and Upper Yuat families, Sepik languages distinguish masculine and feminine genders, with the feminine gender being the more common default unmarked gender. Proto-Sepik gender-marking suffixes are reconstructed by Foley (2018) as: [3]

singulardualplural
masculine*-r*-f*-m
feminine*-t ~ *-s

In Sepik languages, gender-marking suffixes are not always attached to the head noun, and can also be affixed to other roots in the phrase.

Typically, the genders of lower animals and inanimate objects are determined according to shape and size: big or long objects are typically classified as masculine (as a result of phallic imagery), while small or short objects are typically classified as feminine. In some languages, objects can be classified as either masculine or feminine, depending on the physical characteristics intended for emphasis. To illustrate, below is an example in Abau, an Upper Sepik language: [3]

Except for the Middle Sepik languages, most Sepik languages overtly mark nouns using gender suffixes. [3]

Periodic tense

Many Sepik languages from different branches, including Awtuw, May River Iwam, Abau or Alamblak, encode periodic tense in their verbal morphology, though the markers themselves are not cognate. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Abau is a Papuan language spoken in southern Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea, primarily along the border with Indonesia.

Tayap is an endangered Papuan language spoken by fewer than 50 people in Gapun village of Marienberg Rural LLG in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. It is being replaced by the national language and lingua franca Tok Pisin.

The Sepik–Ramu languages are an obsolete language family of New Guinea linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor–Pondo, Leonhard Schultze (Walio–Papi) and Yuat families, together with the Taiap language isolate, and proposed by Donald Laycock and John Z'graggen in 1975.

Donald Laycock (1936–1988) was an Australian linguist and anthropologist. He is best remembered for his work on the languages of Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torricelli languages</span> Language family

The Torricelli languages are a family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast, spoken by about 80,000 people. They are named after the Torricelli Mountains. The most populous and best known Torricelli language is Arapesh, with about 30,000 speakers.

The Kwomtari–Fas languages, often referred to ambiguously as Kwomtari, are an apparently spurious language family proposal of six languages spoken by some 4,000 people in the north of Papua New Guinea, near the border with Indonesia. The term "Kwomtari languages" can also refer to one of the established families that makes up this proposal.

The Senagi languages are a small family of Papuan languages in the classification of Malcolm Ross, that had been part of Stephen Wurm's Trans–New Guinea proposal. They consist of the two languages Angor and Dera.

The Ramu–Lower Sepika.k.a.Lower Sepik–Ramu languages are a proposed family of about 35 Papuan languages spoken in the Ramu and Sepik river basins of northern Papua New Guinea. These languages tend to have simple phonologies, with few consonants or vowels and usually no tones.

The Yuat languages are an independent family of five Papuan languages spoken along the Yuat River in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. They are an independent family in the classification of Malcolm Ross, but are included in Stephen Wurm's Sepik–Ramu proposal. However, Foley and Ross could find no lexical or morphological evidence that they are related to the Sepik or Ramu languages.

The Ndu languages are the best known family of the Sepik languages of East Sepik Province in northern Papua New Guinea. Ndu is the word for 'man' in the languages that make up this group. The languages were first identified as a related family by Kirschbaum in 1922.

May River Iwam, often simply referred to as Iwam, is a language of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Sepik languages</span> Language family of Papua New Guinea

The Lower Sepik a.k.a. Nor–Pondo languages are a small language family of East Sepik Province in northern Papua New Guinea. They were identified as a family by K Laumann in 1951 under the name Nor–Pondo, and included in Donald Laycock's now-defunct 1973 Sepik–Ramu family.

The Ramu languages are a family of some thirty languages of Northern Papua New Guinea. They were identified as a family by John Z'graggen in 1971 and linked with the Sepik languages by Donald Laycock two years later. Malcolm Ross (2005) classifies them as one branch of a Ramu – Lower Sepik language family. Z'graggen had included the Yuat languages, but that now seems doubtful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Sepik languages</span> Groups of Sepik languages

The Middle Sepik languages comprise diverse groups of Sepik languages spoken in northern Papua New Guinea. The Middle Sepik grouping is provisionally accepted by Foley (2018) based on shared innovations in pronouns, but is divided by Glottolog. They are spoken in areas surrounding the town of Ambunti in East Sepik Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Sepik languages</span>

The Upper Sepik languages are a group of ten to a dozen languages generally classified among the Sepik languages of northern Papua New Guinea.

The Grass languages are a group of languages in the Ramu language family. It is accepted by Foley (2018), but not by Glottolog. They are spoken in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, with a small number of speakers also located just across the provincial border in Madang Province.

The Mongol–Langam, Koam, or Ulmapo languages are a language group of Keram Rural LLG, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea belonging to the Ramu language family. Foley (2018) includes them within the Grass languages, but they were not included in Foley (2005).

The Arafundi languages are a small family of clearly related languages in East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. They are conjectured to be related to the Piawi and Madang languages. They are named after the Arafundi River.

Kambota.k.a.Ap Ma, is a Keram language of Papua New Guinea. Compared to its nearest relative, Ambakich, Kambot drops the first segment from polysyllabic words.

The Wogamus languages are a pair of closely related languages, Wogamusin and Chenapian.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Palmer, Bill (2018). "Language families of the New Guinea Area". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 1–20. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  2. ↑ NewGuineaWorld - Sepik River
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Foley, William A. (2018). "The Languages of the Sepik-Ramu Basin and Environs". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432. ISBN   978-3-11-028642-7.
  4. ↑ Ross (2005)
  5. ↑ Jacques, Guillaume (2023). "Periodic tense markers in the world's languages and their sources". Folia Linguistica. 57 (3): 539–562. doi:10.1515/flin-2023-2013.

Bibliography

  • Dye, Wayne; Patricia Townsend; William Townsend (1969). "The Sepik Hill languages: a preliminary report". Oceania. 34: 146–156. ISSN   0029-8077. OCLC   1761006.
  • Foley, William A. (1986). The Papuan Languages of New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0-521-28621-2. OCLC   13004531.
  • —— (2005). "Linguistic prehistory in the Sepik–Ramu basin". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 109–144. ISBN   0-85883-562-2. OCLC   67292782.
  • —— (2018). "The languages of the Sepik-Ramu basin and environ". In Bill Palmer (ed.). The languages and linguistics of the New Guinea area. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 197–432.
  • Laycock, Donald C. (1961). "The Sepik and its languages". Australian Territories. 1 (4): 35–41. OCLC   2257996.
  • —— (1965). The Ndu language family (Sepik District, New Guinea) . Canberra: Australian National University. OCLC   810186.
  • —— (1973). Sepik languages: checklist and preliminary classification . Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. ISBN   978-0-85883-084-4. OCLC   5027628.
  • Laycock, Donald C.; John Z'graggen (1975). "The Sepik–Ramu phylum". In Stephen A. Wurm (ed.). Papuan languages and the New Guinea linguistic scene: New Guinea area languages and language study 1. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. pp. 731–763. OCLC   37096514.
  • Ross, Malcolm (2005). "Pronouns as a preliminary diagnostic for grouping Papuan languages". In Andrew Pawley; Robert Attenborough; Robin Hide; Jack Golson (eds.). Papuan pasts: cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 15–66. ISBN   0858835622. OCLC   67292782.
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